Graphic Design Inspiration

Friday, May 17, 2013

When it comes to building an eCommerce website very few businesses talk about color schemes in detail. Everyone seems to be overboard with features and functionality of the online store that color scheme is often completely ignored. It is well known that color affects our moods and states of mind. It can also influence customer buying habits. The top online stores in the world have always used color psychology to their advantage. Let us now understand how you can use this color psychology to your advantage while designing an online store.

Understand The Colors

The first thing that you need to understand is what feelings and emotions different colors evoke. There are varying interpretations of the different colors across different cultures and other contexts. Let us take a look at what we commonly associate with certain colors.

First things first you should choose colors taking into consideration your target audience and the products you are selling. Though you can see same emotions being associated with different colors you need to be extremely choosy while making use of colors. For instance we have associated love with both pink and red, however if you plan to sell products to both men and women choosing red over pink is advisable. If you are targeting only the fairer sex using pink might seem to be the right choice as this color is highly feminine. This is one reason most online stores selling dolls and other accessories for the girls have shades of pink in them.

Black is associated with sophistication and luxury and thus you will find most automobile sites make extensive use of black and grey shades on their online stores. This catches the attention of the premier segment of the target audience. Similarly one online store associated with medical supplies would make use of the color white extensively as it is associated with the profession and also cleanliness.

Color Harmony Is Important

A perfect color scheme is one where you get the perfect balance between the background and foreground colors in your website. By convention most sites make use of lighter shades of colors in the background and contrasting shades with the text and other elements in the website. However you can break the convention whenever required. For instance if you are selling LED bulbs using a dark background would make the site appear attractive.

Color harmony here becomes very important as all the shades must complement each other and not appear disconnected. You can make use of the color wheel to know the compatibility among different colors. This will also help you distinguish between warm and cool colors as they have variable effects on a person’s mood. Also keep the number of colors used to minimum and instead use different shades of the same colors wherever possible. The golden rule says you shouldn’t use more than three colors in designing your website. If you break the convention have a good reason to do so.

Use Isolation Effect to Draw Attention

Just imagine reading through some text book and suddenly you come across a word that is highlighted in a different color. It will immediately register in your mind and this is called the effect of isolation. So if you have a long product page that is displaying dozens of products to highlight any of these break the conventional color scheme of your site. You might have noticed this being used to highlight discounts and other special offers on a product.

Call To Action

Call to Action elements such as ‘Buy Now’, ‘Order Now’ act as the catalyst that converts lead into sales. Thus you should be extremely careful in choosing colors for these. They should attract the attention of the visitor as soon as they land on the page and thus using bright colors such as red or orange works best for these buttons. You can also use other shades that blend with your overall theme and other colors that are used in the online store. You can also use shadowy effects on these buttons with dark and light shades of the same color to create a 3D effect.

When it comes to choosing a color scheme for your ecommerce store you should look beyond your favorite shade. Colors can be the different between an average performing online store and well-known brand in the market.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Inspiration does not come from a computer screen. Close that computer, walk around and try to go out and look at the world. As a graphic designer, you probably spend more than half your day situated in front of the computer. By simply walking out of your office building, you can acquire more raw information about the outside world, wherein design actually thrives in. Taking a break from all the stresses of the workplace can also ease your mind, giving you a more relaxed mind to work with. You never know, there might be a source of inspiration in front of you that you didn't notice because you were too uptight.
But, if you don't have much time to walk around, here some websites to get fresh design inspiration: